Scooping out stigma: Bureaucrat cleans toilet pit in Warangal village

Highlights

GANGADEVIPALLY/ WARANGAL: Over a dozen top bureaucrats from 23 states, including Central drinking water supply and Swachh Bharat Mission secretary Parameswaran Iyer, undertook a four hour bus journey early Saturday morning from Hyderabad to Warangal to practice what they preach. Parameswaran Iyer and others officials visited Gangadevipally to witness the “twinpit technology“ that converts human waste into useful manure within a short period of time. It also helps in eliminating open defecation. A Unicef team also accompanied the bureaucrats. They visited all the houses in the village for a firsthand observation of conversion of night soil into manure through simple yet innovative technology. Iyer interacted with the villagers. He entered one of the pits and retrieved the solidified manure. He showed the manure to the villagers and told them that it was rich in nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus (NPK).“It's perfectly safe and clean to empty a twin-pit toilet. We needed to demonstrate how twin pit toilet is one of the best suitable low-cost technologies in rural areas. Second, there is a stigma attached to emptying these pits after closing them for six months or a year. Once you close one pit for months, the excreta gets converted into clean compost,“ Iyer said. In the case of twin-pit toilets, the cover slab has two drop holes, one over each pit. Only one pit is used at a time. When one is full, its drop hole is closed and the second one is used.

After six months to one year, the waste stored in the first pit can be removed safely and used as soil conditioner. The pit can be used again when the second pit is filled up. This cycle can be repeated. He appreciated the efforts of the villagers in converting human waste into manure for agriculture. He said the two-pit technology is a revolutionary concept particularly in villages where there is no proper drainage system. “We are proud of you. Your village has shown the way. It stood first in the country. There is no open defecation here,“ he told the villagers at a meeting held near the gram panchayat office.